Carnaval Is Over

Carnaval ended yesterday, or technically today at about 5am. Me and our block had our last day partying at our concentration, at Soal, and on the street. Carnaval was amazing, I don't really know how to describe it but I loved it. I've never really seen an event where every single person you see is smiling, happy, dancing, and full of life and joy. It shows how even though Brazil has many problems it's people are so joyful, and they celebrate together whenever they can. They are always looking on the bright side, willing to help each other, party together, joke together, and laugh together. I am definitely going to have to come back to relive this again, without a doubt.

Carnaval

Today is the second day of Carnaval, which is a 4 day festival for the entire country that happens every year. I'm in a block called "Os Bartira" which has 22 people and is one of the largest in the city. Carnaval blocks are groups of friends that rent a place to stay and stick together for all of Carnaval. They even have shirts kind of like a team jersey with a name and number on the back. We rented a garage and a yard behind some houses. Every night we go hang out at the block, go visit other blocks, and later go to the club Soal which is all decorated for Carnaval. A lot of people come visit our block. We stayed out last night and the night before, even though Carnaval only officially started last night. It's really fun. Here everything stops and the entire town and practically the entire country is out partying. Everyone you see is happy and having a great time wherever you go.

Back from the Beach, Planeta Atlantida, and Bernardo's Back

We just got back from the beach a few hours ago. I was there since the 5th so it's good to be back. I went there with Guto and his family at his beach house in Capão, and went out that night with some friends that were also there. The next day was Planeta Atlantida. Pedro, our cousin, and his family bought the tickets and we all met up before the party. Planeta Atlantida is actually 2 days but the parents thought it would be better if we only went to the first day.

We got there around 6 o'clock and it was already full of people. There were tons people outside, a lot of them drunk. We passed through security which was very tight. There was an ID check, a pat down, a metal detector, and another pat down. Brazilians have a specific ID card and all I had was my drivers license. I showed it to the guy and he was very suspicious. Pedro was behind me and he said that when I passed through, the ID guy said "I could make one of those in one afternoon". We passed all security and we were in. There were tons of littler stages from different sponsors like "Vivo" and "Renner" that had a DJ and rave music. The main stage was where all the big bands played. First there was a sort of emo band called Fresno. The best bands of that day were Chimarruts, which is a reggae band, Marcelo D2, a rapper, and Ivete Sangalo, a female singer. There were so many people there. They said that the two nights together had around 100,000 people. I wasn't really familiar with the bands but they were really good. The party was so tiring though. By 3:30 or 4 am we were pretty much dead. There were tons of people just sitting on the ground and a few passed out which was pretty funny. We met up with a lot of people from Veranópolis there and everyone stayed in a big group. It was like a mini-Veranópolis in the middle of this gigantic party. We took a bus home with a bunch of other exhausted people. We also had these really really loud and obnoxious neighbors at Guto's house. They were a group of about 6 or 7 guys and two women who had these gigantic speaker systems in their cars and blasted their music literally 24 hours a day. Guto's dad didn't like it at all. It was actually kind of nice sometimes to have music. They drank so much beer that they made a huge pyramid with the empty cans. I counted and it was somewhere around 200. They only stayed for 2 days though because on the night of Planeta one of the guys got robbed twice. The first time he hid his cell phone in his underwear but he lost everything else. He escaped the robbery and called his buddies to tell them when he was robbed again, this time they literally took everything. The poor guy had to walk home naked to his house which also just happened to get robbed! The guys lost almost everything and they had to go. 

On sunday Guto and his family left and I stayed the night with Pedro and his family at their apartment. Nana, Paulo, and Lala came on monday with two of Lala's good friends, Gabby and Carol. We went to the beach which was the most beautiful I've ever seen it. We went to the beach everyday, sunbathed, swam, and boogie boarded. I got so much tanner than I've ever been in my life. I even got some sand in a jar to take home with me.

On the 13th Gabby and Carol's parents came to take them home but first we all went to a water park called "Marina Park".  It wasn't very big but it was fun. We went on all the rides in about an hour and then relaxed in the indoor heated pools.

Then on the 16th we went to Porto Alegre to pick up Bernardo from the airport and went back to the beach. Unfortunately after he got back it rained non-stop until we left. He bought a new laptop, an ipod nano for him, an ipod shuffle for Lala, a season of Family Guy for me, and many other gifts for people. He showed us some of his pictures and told us stories about walking in the snow, snowboarding, seeing an NBA game, going to Niagra Falls, going to school and everything he did.

Later in the rain we were pretty much stuck at home. Sometimes we went to our aunt's apartment which has tv, and internet. We did go to another city called Torres. We went to the top of some cliffs and on a little bus tour of the city. It was rainy and cold but at least we got to see it. We also went to a little suspension bridge that leads to another state called Santa Catarina but we couldn't go there because there wasn't enough time. We finished the tour and went back to Capão to eat Xis do Fofo which is the best xis restaurant in Brazil. Bernardo was very happy to be able to eat there again. Then early this morning we filled the car to the brim with stuff and drove home. It is very nice to be back.

World's Biggest Party

Today I woke up at 10 and packed to spend a few days on the beach. I am leaving today with Guto's family. We will go for Planeta Atlantida which is most likely the biggest party in the world. It is two nights on the beach, from 6pm to 6am, of famous bands and musicians with 60,000 people there each night. It's going to be crazy. Then after the party Guto and his family will go home and I will stay with Bernardo's Aunt until my family gets here and we will spend a little more time on the beach. We will get back on the 19th so unless I go to a Lan House, I probably won't be able to post anything until then.

Big Countryside Churrasco & Veranópolis Game

Today we went farther into the countryside or "interior" to where Nana grew up for a gigantic community Churrasco lunch. It is an annual tradition with southern, countryside Brazilians to have Mass and then lunch all together. Everyone from all around the interior was there. We drove about 20 minutes down a small, windy road surrounded by the beautiful Brazilian landscape. It was very hot and sunny today. We got to the lunch hall which was built where Nana's school used to be. It is a big brick building next to a small church.

Mass had just gotten out and there were a lot of people standing around and talking. Then we met up with our family members and got our throats blessed. It sounds funny and random but it's a serious blessing. Everyone lines up and one by one walks into the church where there are about 3 women holding two candles each. Then she crosses the candles across your neck like she's gonna cut your head off with a gigantic set of scissors, recites a prayer in portuguese and that's it. I'm happy I got blessed, hopefully this will eliminate my sore throat woes.

After that we entered the lunch hall. To go inside the lunch hall you have to pass by the most gigantic churrasco pit I have ever seen. It is literally about 100 feet long and it was filled with meat. To about every 10 spits there was a gigantic, red, sweaty, southern Brazilian man, also known as Gaúcho, tending to the meat. It was already hot today but standing next to the churrasco pit the heat was unbearable.

We walked into the lunch hall and it was full of people. We found our seats and waited to be served. The first thing that came by was bottles of Guaraná, which is a tropical fruit flavored soda, and a platter of pastelzinho and canudo. Pastelzinho is a little fried snack filled with meat or cheese or whatever. It's like a small calzone. Canudo is something that I had never had before, it is a cone, sort of like an ice cream cone only thinner, and is filled with sweet cream or orange cream. Then later came a traditional soup called "sopa de capeleti" which is a lot like dumpling soup. It has broth and little ravioli things with filling. Finally came the churrasco meat which was delicious as always. Since this was a traditional gathering the churrasco was cooked on wooden spits instead of metal ones. The men come through serving each person at a time. They let you choose what part of the meat you want and they cut it off right in front of you. It's not very formal but it keeps the meat very fresh, moist, and flavorful.

We finished eating, chatted for a while with the family, had desert, and left.

Then we drove to the house where Nana grew up. No one lives there now but it looks like it was a nice place to live. It is surrounded by trees and nature, away from the road.

Then we went to a nearby river where people can go to have churrascos, hang out, and swim. They built a small wall in the river to make it more like a pool. Paulo and Nana used to go there to swim when they were kids, before there was the club to swim at.

Then we went a little ways up the river to see a bridge that Paulo's grandfather, Ricardo Capponi, built. It's still safe to drive across even though there is a newly built, bigger bridge that everyone uses now. Next to the bridge there is a small spout where water that filters through the earth comes out extremely clear and clean. Paulo says it has been there since he was a kid. We drank some water and then I showed them how to play "pooh sticks" which was funny.

Later Grêmio played another round in the Gauchão, which is our state's tournament, and won 5-1. After that our own home town team of Veranópolis played their game in this round of the Gauchão but saddly they lost 1-0. It was still cool to go to the stadium and see the game even though it was drizzling. There were probably about four to five hundred people there, and there was even a "torcida" with guys singing, waving flags and flares, and jumping up and down.

Our cousin Samuel has his own radio show and was up in his booth commenting the whole game. It's amazing to me how a town of 20,000 people (a little bigger than Centralia) has it's own professional soccer team and stadium and everything. That's Brazil. Next week Veranópolis actually plays Grêmio at home. That's going to be an interesting game because people here will have to choose between rooting for their beloved Grêmio or their home town team. Guto says he won't cheer for either, he's just gonna sit and stay quiet. Now I am watching the good old American Superbowl after a day filled with Brazilian tradition and soccer. It's nice.